I constantly have people coming to me asking for money advice. I'm an Accountant by day and was thinking about starting something on the side. I've tried Upwork and GreatAt but haven't really gotten much action on there.

I was just curious if anyone has done something similar on the side, and how you began? I feel like it would be hard to get people to pay you for doing a budget or offering any kind of financial advice to them, as that is usually a touchy subject, especially in struggling households.

Who is your audience? I think you will struggle if you don’t define your niche. Personal finance is just that - personal. So a broad-strokes approach will generally not yield the bigger results you want.

So with any business venture, your first step will involve targeting an audience. Who do you want to attract?

Financially illiterate people? I.e. Dave Ramsey crowd?FI/RE-oriented people? I.e. here?People who want to maximize retirement?Optimize taxes?Graduate debt free?Earn income on the side?Live on less than $x per year comfortably?General frugality?

Nail that down first.

Then create free content that you can monetize, like DR. Podcast/blog/webinars.

Find advertisers and sell spots. Create free content and give freely (while monetizing). Then create “freemium” products. You have your blog, now write a book. Or teach an online class about the material you have honed and developed. Make a workbook. Something they have to pay money for AND WILL WANT TO. But don’t make their success on your “program/system/whatever” contingent on purchases. Just let that make it easier. ??Profit.

Who is your audience? I think you will struggle if you don’t define your niche. Personal finance is just that - personal. So a broad-strokes approach will generally not yield the bigger results you want.

So with any business venture, your first step will involve targeting an audience. Who do you want to attract?

Financially illiterate people? I.e. Dave Ramsey crowd?FI/RE-oriented people? I.e. here?People who want to maximize retirement?Optimize taxes?Graduate debt free?Earn income on the side?Live on less than $x per year comfortably?General frugality?

Nail that down first.

Then create free content that you can monetize, like DR. Podcast/blog/webinars.

Find advertisers and sell spots. Create free content and give freely (while monetizing). Then create “freemium” products. You have your blog, now write a book. Or teach an online class about the material you have honed and developed. Make a workbook. Something they have to pay money for AND WILL WANT TO. But don’t make their success on your “program/system/whatever” contingent on purchases. Just let that make it easier. ??Profit.

Honestly, general frugality. I consider myself amazing at figuring out how to do things using the least amount of money possible.

Who is your audience? I think you will struggle if you don’t define your niche. Personal finance is just that - personal. So a broad-strokes approach will generally not yield the bigger results you want.

So with any business venture, your first step will involve targeting an audience. Who do you want to attract?

Financially illiterate people? I.e. Dave Ramsey crowd?FI/RE-oriented people? I.e. here?People who want to maximize retirement?Optimize taxes?Graduate debt free?Earn income on the side?Live on less than $x per year comfortably?General frugality?

Nail that down first.

Then create free content that you can monetize, like DR. Podcast/blog/webinars.

Find advertisers and sell spots. Create free content and give freely (while monetizing). Then create “freemium” products. You have your blog, now write a book. Or teach an online class about the material you have honed and developed. Make a workbook. Something they have to pay money for AND WILL WANT TO. But don’t make their success on your “program/system/whatever” contingent on purchases. Just let that make it easier. ??Profit.

Honestly, general frugality. I consider myself amazing at figuring out how to do things using the least amount of money possible.

I do a small portion of this as part of my practice. I wouldn't call it very profitable - I do it mostly to help my generation get a handle on their general finances.

The difficulty you'll run into is the people who need your help the most won't be able to pay for one-on-one time with you. That's one of the reasons the Dave Ramsey course is popular - you pay a fee for the course, but it's not nearly as expensive as sitting down with someone to go through everything.

Who is your audience? I think you will struggle if you don’t define your niche. Personal finance is just that - personal. So a broad-strokes approach will generally not yield the bigger results you want.

So with any business venture, your first step will involve targeting an audience. Who do you want to attract?

Financially illiterate people? I.e. Dave Ramsey crowd?FI/RE-oriented people? I.e. here?People who want to maximize retirement?Optimize taxes?Graduate debt free?Earn income on the side?Live on less than $x per year comfortably?General frugality?

Nail that down first.

Then create free content that you can monetize, like DR. Podcast/blog/webinars.

Find advertisers and sell spots. Create free content and give freely (while monetizing). Then create “freemium” products. You have your blog, now write a book. Or teach an online class about the material you have honed and developed. Make a workbook. Something they have to pay money for AND WILL WANT TO. But don’t make their success on your “program/system/whatever” contingent on purchases. Just let that make it easier. ??Profit.

Honestly, general frugality. I consider myself amazing at figuring out how to do things using the least amount of money possible.

Who is your audience? I think you will struggle if you don’t define your niche. Personal finance is just that - personal. So a broad-strokes approach will generally not yield the bigger results you want.

So with any business venture, your first step will involve targeting an audience. Who do you want to attract?

Financially illiterate people? I.e. Dave Ramsey crowd?FI/RE-oriented people? I.e. here?People who want to maximize retirement?Optimize taxes?Graduate debt free?Earn income on the side?Live on less than $x per year comfortably?General frugality?

Nail that down first.

Then create free content that you can monetize, like DR. Podcast/blog/webinars.

Find advertisers and sell spots. Create free content and give freely (while monetizing). Then create “freemium” products. You have your blog, now write a book. Or teach an online class about the material you have honed and developed. Make a workbook. Something they have to pay money for AND WILL WANT TO. But don’t make their success on your “program/system/whatever” contingent on purchases. Just let that make it easier. ??Profit.

Honestly, general frugality. I consider myself amazing at figuring out how to do things using the least amount of money possible.

Like what?

Commuting to work.

Make a blog post on each of the things. And monetize it! :-) Build a following and go from there.

Who is your audience? I think you will struggle if you don’t define your niche. Personal finance is just that - personal. So a broad-strokes approach will generally not yield the bigger results you want.

So with any business venture, your first step will involve targeting an audience. Who do you want to attract?

Financially illiterate people? I.e. Dave Ramsey crowd?FI/RE-oriented people? I.e. here?People who want to maximize retirement?Optimize taxes?Graduate debt free?Earn income on the side?Live on less than $x per year comfortably?General frugality?

Nail that down first.

Then create free content that you can monetize, like DR. Podcast/blog/webinars.

Find advertisers and sell spots. Create free content and give freely (while monetizing). Then create “freemium” products. You have your blog, now write a book. Or teach an online class about the material you have honed and developed. Make a workbook. Something they have to pay money for AND WILL WANT TO. But don’t make their success on your “program/system/whatever” contingent on purchases. Just let that make it easier. ??Profit.

Honestly, general frugality. I consider myself amazing at figuring out how to do things using the least amount of money possible.

Like what?

Commuting to work.

Make a blog post on each of the things. And monetize it! :-) Build a following and go from there.